This morning, the Iranian regime executed Kurdish political prisoners Mohsen Mazloum, Mohammad Faramarzi, Vafa Azarbar and Pejman Fatehi. Once again, we see that Kurdish lives are being sacrificed to serve political interests, with this most recent round of political murders occurring just after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

The four Kurdish victims of the Iranian regime’s brutality were purportedly executed for spying – unproven allegations lacking in any credibility. The murder of those who demand human rights and cultural rights and raise their voices for self-determination is an indictment of the oppressive, bloodthirsty Iranian regime, and we honor the memories of those lost today.

The Kurds and all of the oppressed peoples and religious communities of Iran and, most prominently, the women of the country, have proven through the Jin Jiyan Azadî (Woman Life Freedom) resistance movement that they are resilient and not afraid of executions, arrests, torture or disappearances. Iran’s future, whether the regime wants it or not, will be Jin Jiyan Azadî.

The killing of four Kurdish political prisoners in Iran at a time when the Iranian regime aims to portray itself as guardians of the rights of the Palestinians during the ongoing Hamas-Israel war shines a light on the glaring hypocrisy of the country’s leaders. Neither the women of Iran, nor the Kurds nor the other peoples of Iran can bear this oppression any longer. Rather than cynically presenting itself to the outside world as the guardian of others, Iran should make peace with the peoples and women of Iran and stop spilling the blood of innocent people throughout the country. While the peoples of Iran are silenced and brutalized, the Iranian regime’s strategy of fomenting conflict throughout the Middle East to perpetuate its existence continues unabated. Throughout the region, far beyond its borders, Iran plays a major destabilizing role in the Middle East.

We offer our condolences to the families of the political prisoners murdered by the Iranian regime and to our entire people. The Iranian regime’s policy of enmity, death and massacres of the Kurdish people will surely be defeated. Every political prisoner murdered by the Iranian regime will live on in the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom.

Executive Council of the Kurdistan National Congress January 29, 2024